


The Voice Told Him

by Kindaeverything (LupinePhoenix), LupinePhoenix



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-07
Updated: 2018-03-07
Packaged: 2019-03-28 07:21:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,590
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13899129
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LupinePhoenix/pseuds/Kindaeverything, https://archiveofourown.org/users/LupinePhoenix/pseuds/LupinePhoenix





	1. Chapter 1

It started with a simple bakery and a simple suspicion. Both related to one girl who seemed to be the center of his web of confusion. This confusion started when Ladybug had asked him to do her a favor while she was on a secret mission.

Chat Noir sat on its rooftop and pondered this particular situation.

Marinette Dupain Cheng. A girl who had sneaked into his mind, and tormented him almost as much as Ladybug had. And speaking of Ladybug, where was she?

Forget about Ladybug. She doesn't want your affections. You've been a friend to Marinette as Chat Noir and Adrien Agreste. You should tell her.

He shook his head. Could he trust Marinette? Or could he trust Ladybug more?

He was a mess. He wasn't supposed to love two girls, right?

He gave a small gasp. He just admitted it, whether or not it was to himself. He loved Marinette. Could he have been wrong before about—?

"What are you doing on the roof, Chat?"

He didn't exactly see her, but he could pick out Ladybug's voice anywhere. "Nothing, just patrolling."

"On my roof? You couldn't have done it on anyone else's? Or are you trying to flirt with me again?" She gave a gentle laugh, and he heard footsteps walk toward him, staying on the balcony.

My roof? He felt so confused. This was Marinette's house. Not—

Then it clicked.

He staggered from where he stood, and fell over; right into Marinette. He lifted his head saw her face. He completely panicked. How could he have been so blind?

He could see it now. The pigtails, the eyes, everything. Identically beautiful as his Lady's. That's why he heard Ladybug's voice. He was expecting her. That's why he.... He couldn't think straight.

"Chat? Are you okay?" Marinette asked after he helped her up.

"I'm so sorry, I, uh, have to leave. Very important thing to do! I'll be back! See ya, Princess!" He grabbed his staff, and extended it to leave. He blew her a kiss, trying to keep up his confident act.

He jumped off to where he was finally alone, where no one could find him. His room.

"Claws in," he breathed, slamming the door and slumping onto it. "This shouldn't be happening. It couldn't. Impossible, right? I mean, it's not every day that a guy learns both of his loves are the same, right, Plagg?"

He heard a whimper, and then a snore.

"Plagg?" he asked.

He found his Kwami in his jacket, fast asleep. He tired the camembert loving thing out today.

He set him inside a half open wheel of the cheese, knowing Plagg would be hungry when he woke up. He got onto the computer in his room, and logged into his private chat room with Nino.

Adrien22: Dude what's been up with Mari?

Nino10: what do you mean?

Adrien22: has she been acting odd, does she have a crush, tell me about her.

Nino10: Dude, you got it /bad/

Nino10: She does have a crush,but she won't tell me. Says he won't notice her. She also said something about being confused by a mangycat.

Adrien22: wow, he never notices her? Any one who doesn't notice her is such a *******

Nino10: yeah. She still likes him tho.

Adrien22: I must learn who my competition is.........

He got off without seeing Nino's response. He knew he just said way too much, but he needed to know. He didn't have Marinette's phone number, so he couldn't text her—

But he had Alya's. He texted her immediately, pacing impatiently. He felt pang in his chest, knowing that it was silly, feeling like he was betraying one love, and feeling so happy he could die at the same time.

It felt like forever when Alya's got back to him, the full number. He tried to call it, see if it worked, and someone picked up.

"Adrien? This isn't prank, right? You're actually calling me?"

It was her, alright.

"Yeah. Is there anything you need to tell me?" It kind of felt weird, talking to her, trying to pretend to be what everybody thought he was. But he couldn't help but be different around this girl.

"What do mean?"

"Well, I know someone who kind of has a crush on you, and he was wondering if you liked anyone."

"You're not talking about Nathanael, are you?"

"No."

"And you're not talking about yourself either?"

"No. He's seen you more than me. After school, I mean. He didn't want me to tell you, because he thinks it's kind of obvious."

"He couldn't call me himself?"

"He knew you wouldn't pick up if it was him."

"Does he wear leather and a bell?"

"Who are you talking about?"

"Is it—"

"Anyway, just wanted to tell you, so you can ask him next time you see him. You don't like anyone, do you, Princ— Marinette?"

Now he screwed up. He was doing so good!

"Do you, Adrien? Because I think I know who it is. Nobody ever calls me Princess. Except Chat Noir. I'm thinking you know him more than you're letting on."

"Got-to-go-bye!" he said quickly, ending the call. He was such an idiot.

He heard laughing. "Dude, you got it bad! Did you seriously just do that? So low!"

"Claws out."

"Aw."

When he finished transforming, he bounded off to the Eiffel Tower, calling Ladybug on his rod.

He was going to win her over once and for all


	2. Chapter 2

****"Where were you? We got an emergency!"

"What type?"

"A guy named Bone Breaker. Kind of sounds like a name of a giant."

"What's he do?"

"He can turn emotional pain to physical with a simple touch. He's—" Chat choked on the words. "He's after you."

"After me? He's going to have a hard time catching this bug."

"Be careful with this one, okay? I can't— I don't know what I would do if—" he sighed, hoping she could tell by now.

"I'll be fine, Chat."

"Just don't risk yourself more than you need to," he said, his voice getting firm.

"It's just an average day as a superhero, Chat. I'll be  _fine_."

"I forgot to tell you: He can swap who gets the physical pain. If he caught us both— even at different times— he could use it to kill you."

"And if I get killed?"

"You don't understand, Marinette! If you died, I would die! The— the pain would be too much to bear." His voice was raised, and he didn't even notice that he called her by her real name. "I would die because—"

"How did you find out?"

"The rooftop. I thought it was you as Ladybug, until you said it was your roof. I had a moment of frightening clarity."

"I wasn't what you expected." She looked at him with pity. "I'm in love with someone else, Chat. I'm sorry." She threw her yo-yo, and she swung off into battle.

He couldn't move, afraid to tell her that he had already been touched. He just watched in horror as she suffered with the pain she couldn't get rid of. He just sat there. And when her Miraculous was taken off of her body, he cried out her name in his own torment.

Everything went dark, and he squeezed them tight, fearful of what he might see.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When his eyes opened, he was in a sitting position, tears threatening to spill. It was a nightmare. Just a nightmare. It wasn't real. He buried his face in his legs.

His phone buzzed. He picked it up, and answered it, not caring that he was a wreck. He vaguely remembered reading  _Marinette_  at the top of the Caller ID.

"You know it's the middle of the night."

"I couldn't sleep. I figured you couldn't either."

"Why did you call me?"

"Nightmare. Something about seeing C— someone die. I would have thought my crush would be the one in danger, but I feel so confused. I literally remember waking up and shouting _I_ _love_ _you_."

"I had a nightmare, too. My throat hurts, I must have yelled in my sleep. I-I watched her die. She didn't let me finish. It felt so real. I would have done the exact same thing in my nightmare if it happened in real life. I'm the worst hero ever."

He gave a small laugh, too tired to realize what he just said to her.

"No, you're not. You save me all the time."

"Thanks, Princess. But you know you do most of the saving."

"I wish that we didn't have to hide our identities. It would so much easier to just known who the other was."

They talked about how being superheroes was such a bummer and that they wished they could tell each other's crush how they felt.

"Marinette?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks. You should probably sleep now, you sound tired."

"You too." She yawned through the phone.

"Good night, love you."

He immediately regretted saying it, and almost tried to take it back until he heard her answer.

"Love you too, Chat Noir."

~~~~~~~~~ ????? I love this ~~~~~~~~~

He woke up to a blaring alarm, not even sure if last high was a dream. The only thing he could remember was  _Love_ _you_ _too_ _,_ _Chat_ _Noir_.

She knew, whether she processed it or not. He smiled to himself, and got ready for school, feeling lighter than a balloon.

"Today's going to be great, Plagg, I can feel it!"

"Did you have to wake up so happy? I can't stand to hear your voice this early!"

"Thanks," Adrien said, rolling his eyes. "I guess you  _didn't_  overhear my conversation with Marinette?"

"No."

"Surprising."

"Can I have some camembert, now?"

He handed the Kwami a wheel. "Make it last. I have questions for a very special bug."

"I hope you didn't see the calendar," Plagg said.

"What day is it?"

"Oh, good, it's March. I was thinking we'd gone backward and it was Valentine's Day."

"Okay, very funny. Let's go."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

He spent the whole time daydreaming about the night before. He didn't dare look back at Alya and Marinette, wondering if she would even remember last night.

"Hey, Agreste, is it true she called you in the middle of the night?" Alya asked, poking his shoulder.

His whole face felt hot, no doubt his blush. Nino was laughing, and answered for him.

"I'm thinking that's a yes, man. Look how red they are! Did you confess your undying love?"

Adrien felt like dying himself. He remembered everything about the conversation.

"Uh.... No?" Marinette answered. "I barely remembered what I even said after the second paragraph. I did hear something along the lines of  _love_  come out of my mouth a couple of times, though."

Alya squealed, and Nino lightly punched Adrien's arm. "No one confessed anything!" he shouted, wanting the attention to stop. What he said wasn't exactly a lie. They just knew.

"I do remember something like  _Love you_ at the end of the call."

Adrien raised his hand. "Miss, may I use the toilet?"

"Of course."

"May I use the toilet, too?"

Adrien sped off before he found trouble. "I thought you said it was going to be a  _good_  day," Plagg snickered. "You were wrong!"

"You don't know that," Adrien said, ducking behind a row of lockers. She was too close to finding out that he said he loved her.

"Adrien! Come back here!"

He felt insanely compelled to obey. Was this love or what it felt like to be lectured by a life partner?


	3. Chapter 3

"I can't go out there. She knows."

"Get back here!"

"Plagg, help me!" Adrien whispered desperately to the tiny god.

"You're on your own, kid," he said, zipping into his jacket.

Adrien stood very still, knowing it might be the last time he could pull off being two people with this girl for the last time. His affections would be unveiled. She would never be able to talk to him again, disappointed that someone like him could be as annoying as Chat Noir. Or maybe that she  _preferred_  Chat Noir.

Marinette poked her head out through the corner of the hall. "I saw you come in here! I just want to ask you something, Adrien."

 _Here_ _it_ _comes_ , he thought, closing his eyes tightly.

He felt her felt her hand on his shoulder. He opened his eyes.

"About the call, Adrien," she said. She wasn't stuttering. Was there something wrong?

"Yeah?"

"I didn't say anything...  _embarrassing_ , did I?"

"Your not stuttering," he pointed out stupidly.

"I'm not? Usually, by now I would have slipped that all I thought about was you being perfect or something." She laughed a beautiful sound. Not a nervous one. "My friend, he kind of gave me a scare in my dream last night, and I must have fallen asleep mid-call and thought I was talking to him. I heard something like 'Love you, too,' come out of my mouth before I woke up snuggling my pillow, and almost said his name to it."

"Well, you started mumbling nonsense, and I assumed you wanted to sleep, so I hung up."  _Lie_ _,_ _lie_ _,_ _lie_ _!_

"I had this really clear memory of you saying, 'I'm the worst hero ever,' and I told you it was nonsense. You also called me something like  _Princess_."

"I called you  _Princess_? Sounds like a cat I know."

"Chat?"

"Yes?" he asked. But the worst part was that he had said it like he was responding to his name. He mentally beat himself, naming a few cuss words in his head.

"Okay, that wasn't my imagination. Did you just—?"

"No."

"Well, I'm setting up a picnic on my balcony. With croissants. And maybe some chocolate dipping."

"You know me so well." He wished he could stop talking. Something was wrong.

"I can barely talk to you to know what your favorites are. I know  _Chat_ _Noir_  well."

He cursed. "I guess the Chat's out of the bag."

"Gotcha. I can use that next time you ask me if you would—"

"Ever lie to you, Bugaboo?"

"How—?"

"Not right now. We have to get back to class, Princess. And you totally walked into that one."

"This was  _not_  the way I thought it would work out."

"Ha. And you did say 'Love you, too.' I can use that against you, milady."

"I hate you," she grumbled.

"Can this knight have a kiss?"

"No."

"Paw-lease? It would mew-velous, Purr-incess."

She kissed his cheek, and half walked, half ran back to class, leaving Adrien standing alone like an idiot.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I'm never going to be able to tell her, am I?"

"Well, she figured out your identity. What's left to tell?"

"Plagg," he grumbled.

"Oh, is this your crush we're talking about?"

" _Plagg_ ," he warned.

"You know, kid, she didn't stutter or ramble around you yesterday. Could she like someone else?"

"Plagg!"

"Okay! Can I have camembert?"

"Not yet," Adrien said, opening his window. "Claws out."

After his transformation, he extended his staff and bounced through the city to his Princess.

Maybe it would be different tonight. Maybe she would go into a confession about how she's always loved him and she wished he felt the same. Then he would pick her up bridal style, kiss her tenderly, telling her that he had loved her with all his heart. She would smile and hug him, saying, "I always knew it was you."

But that would never happen. Because she wouldn't feel the same. Because it would be impossible. Because she was waiting for a prince, not a knight. Because she probably hated him. Just like she hated him as Ladybug.

Marinette was different than Ladybug, but exactly the same. He never put her on a pedestal, but instead he slowly fell for this regular girl. And when he realized she  _was_ Ladybug, it was the happiest, scariest, saddest moment of his life.

The most  _loving_  moment in his life. A love that wasn't reciprocated.

When he got to her balcony, he could feel tears burn his cheeks. Why was he crying? Not in front of Marinette.

"Chat! You're here. You want a strawberry croissant?"

"You said there would be chocolate dipping," he said, still wiping his tears in the dark. He dare not turn.

"Of course there is, silly. I'm glad you could come. I'm still wondering how you found out that I'm Ladybug."

"Well, Princess, I was sitting on the roof, and I heard you as Ladybug. When you told me it was  _yours_ , I whipped around, made the connection, and I was so scared, I fell off."

"Hmm. Did you really mean it when you said  _Love_ _you_ _,_  on the phone?"

"What do you think?" When he was sure his eyes were no longer red, he turned around to face her.

"I think you were just being flirty."

"You weren't stuttering around me earlier. Did you ever like me? I mean, as in, a crush?"

"I did, once. Until I fell for someone even better."

He felt like something inside him just deflated. She didn't love him. "Who? Nathanael? Nino? Anyone else?"

"Are you okay?"

"No. I came here to get something off my chest. Now I think it would just upset you. If you... love somebody else, you wouldn't want to hear this."

She looked like she was going to cry. "I didn't mean to upset you. I meant— I really meant to say was that I love—"

"I have to go. Don't get akumatized. I'm only happy if you're happy." He got back on the balcony and extended his staff.

The last thing he heard was, "But I'm not."

Tears welled again. His attempt to confess backfired. She was in love with someone else.


	4. Chapter 4

"What's been up with Adrien?" Alya asked behind him. He was feeling so depressed, he didn't feel like turning around to face her.

They were all leaving for home, and they decided to have a study meet at Mari's house.

"Nothing," he said, hoping it would stop, but knowing it would go on.

"It's my fault, isn't it?" Nino and Marinette said at the same time.

"It's nobody's fault. It's mine. How was I supposed to know you loved someone else? I waited too long."

He heard Marinette gasp. "You didn't tell me you—"

"Because it was better that way, Marinette. I shouldn't have visited you when you were in love with someone else."

"Whoa,  _that_  was unexpected," Alya said, trying to sneak her camera. He didn't care. Go ahead and film it. It was his mistake. He could deal with the consequences.

"The only thing I did was annoy you, no matter where we were. I flirted, I teased, and you should have told me it wasn't working. I should have come clean earlier. So really, this is my own fault."

"How long?"

"A long time. Probably since I met you. But I put you on a pedestal, and didn't really take time to get to know you. And I found out what an amazing person you were. And before I knew it, I was in love with both sides of you. I was hoping you felt the same, but you told me you loved someone else."

"I wasn't in love with the model anymore. I loved the boy who cared. Behind the disguise. The one who cared for me as if I was a part of him. One who joked and let me see the real him. Before in was in love with the idea of you. But it's different now, Adrien."

_Different?_

"I love you, Minou. Whiskers and all."

"Uhhh, is this even deeper than a confession?" Nino mumbled.

"You love... me? Me?" Adrien smiled, and put his hand to his forehead, wiping sweat. "You should have said so, Mari."

"I tried. You were so distraught, in didn't want to say anything that would make it worse. So, I guess it was my fault?"

"I love you so much." He approached her, and kissed her. She wrapped her arms around Adrien's head.

When they parted, Adrien turned to Alya and Nino. "How much did you get?"

"All. That was awesome, dude!" Nino shouted. "When can we film your proposal?"

"You didn't set this up, did you?" Marinette asked.

"No, I just saw her get the camera out."

"Oh. So do you think we can trust them?"

"With what?"

"Really,  _Chaton_?"

"Oh. Maybe."

"What are you two talking about, girl?" Alya asked.

"Not girl. Lady." Marinette said.

"Um, excuse me?"

"I'll tell you once we're inside."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When they were in Marinette's room, she shouted, "Tikki, spots on!" at the same moment as when he said, "Plagg, claws out!"

Nino and Alya were so stunned, their phones didn't even come out. "This whole time? Ladybug and Chat Noir were next to us the whole time?"

"Whoa. We can't tell anyone, right?"

"Not a single soul."

**TEN YEARS IN THE FUTURE**

"And that's how me and your mother got together, had you, Emma, and saved the world before that."

"So, you were a superhero?"

"Yup."

"And Mommy was one too?"

"Yeah."

Emma narrowed her eyes. "Aunt Alya said that superheroes are myths."

"Wanna hear a secret?"

"Yeah!"

"Aunt Alya was a superhero, too."

Emma gasped.

"You can't tell anyone. Promise?"

"Yeah. Can I have some camembert?"

"Sure."

"Can  _I_  have some camembert?" a tiny voice said from behind him.

"Not now, Plagg," he laughed.  
  
  
  


**_FIN_.**

**_ ( _ _ I _ __ _ had _ __ _ such _ __ _ a _ __ _ fun _ __ _ time _ __ _ writing _ _ this _ _ ,  _ _ and _ __ _ I _ __ _ hoped _ __ _ you _ __ _ had _ __ _ a _ __ _ fun _ __ _ time _ __ _ reading _ _!) _ **

****_ ~ _ _ Lupine Phoenix (Kindaeverything) _ ** **


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